"Barking Up the Right Body"

**Title: “A Role to Remember”**
*Season 2, Episode 7b*
*Littlest Pet Shop: A World of Our Own*

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**Cold Open – At the Littlest Pet Shop Playhouse Stage**

*(Curtain up. EDIE VON KEET strides enthusiastically onto the stage, followed by ROXIE McTERRIER, who is wearing a makeshift director’s scarf.)*

**EDIE:** And that’s why, naturally, I’ll be perfect for the lead in *The Woofiest Wonder!*
**ROXIE:** Well, Edie, it’s a *dog* role. The lead, Barkleigh! You’ll have to—y’know—really channel your inner canine!
**EDIE:** (flipping her feathers dramatically) Darling, I am an actress! A thespian of the highest order. How hard can “dog” be?
**JADE CATKIN:** (smirking from backstage) Hope she’s got a handle on drool…

*(Laughter from the group as the scene fades out.)*

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**ACT ONE – Rehearsal Woes**

*(Later, at rehearsal. EDIE tries to “dog” it up and… overacts terribly. She minces around, sniffs daintily, wags an invisible “tail,” then launches into song.)*

**EDIE:** (singing) “I’m the barkiest, snarkiest, remarkable pooch—”
**QUINCY GOATEE:** (confused) Is that… jazz paws?
**ROXIE:** (cringing) We don’t waltz in for tummy rubs, Edie, we just… roll over. Want me to show you?
**EDIE:** I just don’t *get* it! How do you all act so, um, “ruff”? Ugh!

*(BEV GILTURTLE, in Trip Hamston’s hamster body, scurries up, nearly bumping into JADE.)*

**BEV (as TRIP):** We feel you, Edie. Right, Trip?
**TRIP (as BEV):** (from inside Bev’s turtle shell) Yup! Changing perspectives is weird.

*(They exchange nervous glances.)*

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**ACT TWO – The Body Swap Plan**

*(Backstage, Edie corners Bev and Trip.)*

**EDIE:** So what’s your secret? Why are you two acting so… switched up lately?
**BEV (in Trip's body):** (gulp) Uh—it’s nothing, Edie!
**TRIP (in Bev's body):** Well, honestly, Manny Mouser has this *completely scientific* Body Swap Device, and we might have tested it…a little…
**EDIE:** (eyes wide) That’s *brilliant!* If I could just BE a dog, I could really nail Barkleigh! Please—take me to Manny!

*(Trip and Bev exchange worried looks but lead Edie to Manny’s den workshop. Manny fusses with a tangled web of wires around a small, glowing device.)*

**MANNY MOUSER:** (adjusting goggles) You promise to keep this under wraps? A good scientist *never* repeats a test just for entertainment…
**EDIE:** (already hopping with excitement) Swear on my very fabulous scarf!
**ROXIE:** (popping in, unsuspecting) Hey, what’s all the—wait, what—
**EDIE:** Just a *teensy* rehearsal hack, darling!
**MANNY:** Swapping in three… two… one—

*(ZAP! EDIE and ROXIE shimmer, then wham! – Edie is in Roxie’s terrier body, Roxie in Edie’s colorful keet body. The VOICES follow the bodies to keep it a secret.)*

**EDIE (in Roxie’s body):** (sniffs) Oh my—my nose! It’s tingling!
**ROXIE (in Edie’s body):** (fluttering wildly) I-I have wings?! Whoa—wing feathers!

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**Montage – Life as a Dog**

*(Music montage. Edie (as Roxie) runs through all things “dog”: rolling in grass, catching balls, wrestling with squeaky plushies, barking “ruff!” with gusto and getting tangled in her own leash. Roxie (in Edie’s body) tries to “preen” and dance, nearly knocking down a rack of costumes.)*

**JADE:** (watching Edie-Roxie) Either Edie’s finally lost it, or Roxie got really into her role as Edie.
**QUINCY:** (nodding) At least the fur’s flying.

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**ACT THREE – Showstopping Trouble**

*(The day of the play. Roxie and Edie meet backstage, quietly panicked.)*

**EDIE (in Roxie’s body):** Manny! It’s showtime, darling, let’s switch back!
**MANNY:** (mournful) Uh, about that. Overuse has fried the polarity quantum booster. I need—like—ten hours to fix it.
**ROXIE (in Edie’s body, flapping helplessly):** Ten hours? But, but I have to—Edie has to—
**EDIE:** (glancing at the crowd) I’ll have to… perform… as you, Roxie, but in your body!
**ROXIE:** And I’ll… go on stage as *you.* In the *lead role.* !!

*(Trip (Bev), Bev (Trip), Manny, and Jade huddle with Quincy.)*

**TRIP (in Bev's voice):** Are we in infinite swaps now?
**JADE:** This is either going to be a disaster…
**QUINCY:** …Or the best play in Paw-Tucket!

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**ACT FOUR – Performance!**

*(On stage. The curtain rises. ROXIE (in Edie’s body) tries to channel Edie’s trademark flair—one wing out, dramatic pause, glimmer in the eye. The audience stares, expecting “Barkleigh the dog.”)*

**ROXIE (as Edie, stage whisper):** (to herself) “Just think—fabulous. Sparkly. Sassy.”
**ROXIE (as Edie):** (projecting) Paw friends, today’s the day we find our bark!
*(She gives a swooshy pose, nearly tripping over her own tail feathers.)*

*(Cut to Edie (in Roxie’s body) dashing in, nailing the dog-isms—tail wags, real digging, spinning in circles before lying down, and even an impromptu howl worthy of a terrier.)*

**EDIE (as Roxie):** Ruff! Ruff! My bark is extraordinary, isn’t it? Ooo, what’s that smell? (Sniffs dramatically.)

*(Backstage, Bev (Trip) and Trip (Bev) are nervously running lines for their own small roles—trying not to mix up their “hammy” and “turtly” mannerisms.)*

**JADE (quietly, to Manny):** Edie’s actually… kinda great. (Wry smile.)
**MANNY:** SCIENCE.

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**Grand Finale**

*(The play ends with Edie (as Roxie) delivering Barkleigh’s big speech with real heart—and a (messy, but authentic) dog instinct. The audience gives a standing ovation.)*

**AUDIENCE:** (shouting) “Bravo, Barkleigh!”
**QUINCY:** She *really* unleashed her inner canine.

*(Backstage, after Edie and Roxie scramble out of sight, Manny finally gets the swap device working and returns them to their own bodies. They emerge, slightly disheveled.)*

**EDIE:** Thanks, Roxie. I may have barked up the wrong tree at first, but learning to be a *real* dog for a day was…eye-opening.
**ROXIE:** And being you was…exhausting!
**EDIE:** (hugs her friend) No one can out-Edie Edie. Or out-Roxie Roxie.
**TRIP (poking head out of Bev shell):** Or out-ham Hammy!
**BEV (rattling her shell):** Or “shell” a bad line! (She and Trip high paw/fin.)
**JADE:** (rolling eyes fondly) Give ‘em a round of a-paws.
**ALL:** (laughing, as curtain drops)

*(The camera pulls back on the Littlest Pet Shop pals, together, paws and wings, shells and hoofs, all center stage in A World of Their Own.)*

**END**

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